April is a big birthday month in the extended FreshHomeCook family unit! Included in there is our baby girl Maisie. She turned two this year & I can tell you I have no idea where that time went! I love birthdays, being able to get loved ones together & share the joy & celebration. As with any celebration in my family there must be CAKE!

It appears that my partner & I have become birthday cake aficionados! It all started with setting ourselves up to make a Brown Bear (as in Eric Carle’s brilliant book) for our son’s first birthday, some four years ago. While we are not exactly professionals, with each birthday we seem to get just a little more complex & just a little better. We work well as a team, I am the better cake baker & icer (if that’s a word!) & J-man is the shape designer & decorator!

Last year, for Maisie’s first birthday I made a Dragonfly cake, thanks to the lovely ladies at Cake2theRescue. After making that cake, we realised we could do the design & making ourselves with a little planning & a whole lot of fun (kind of)!

For our son’s fourth birthday we made our own version of Willbee the Bumblebee that was a big hit! This cake was based on Maisie’s favourite character from Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom, a cartoon on ABC4Kids, Gaston the Ladybird. Truth be told, J-man & I love this show as much as the kidlets – it is made by the same good folk that make Peppa Pig & is just as unpretentious, fun & very funny! If you haven’t seen it, it is well worth seeking out an episode to watch. Oh wait, here’s one I prepared earlier …

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Since being diagnosed with IBS coupled with symptomatic malabsorption of gluten and lactose, I have made it my mission to find ways to turn my old favourite recipes into new 'free from' ones I can digest and the whole family can cook, eat and enjoy!

Life it too short to feel deprived good people!

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